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Compiled by Barbara Whittle, communication manager, Law Society of South Africa, barbara@lssa.org.za

 

Boqwana and Barnard elected to lead attorneys’ profession through initial transition to new legal dispensation

 

Port Elizabeth attorney Max Boqwana and Somerset West attorney Ettienne Barnard were elected as Co-Chairpersons of the Law Society of South Africa (LSSA) at the annual general meeting held in Bloemfontein on 29 March. They will lead the attorneys’ profession through the crucial initial stages of the transitional process to a new dispensation under the National Forum envisioned in the Legal Practice Bill.

 

The Bill was passed by both houses of parliament in March this year and, at the time of this issue going to print, was awaiting assent by President Zuma, which was expected before the 7 May elections.

 

About Ettienne Barnard

 

Ettienne Barnard is the Vice President of the Cape Law Society where he has served as a council member and a member of its Magistrate’s Court Committee. He holds the BA LLB degrees from Stellenbosch University and was admitted as an attorney and conveyancer in 1993. He specialises in commercial law and litigation at the firm Ettienne Barnard Attorneys.

 

He is a council member of the LSSA and a member of its Small Claims Courts Committee. In the field of skills development, Mr Barnard is a drafter and lecturer in magistrate’s court practice, commercial subjects as well as practice management and administration for the LSSA’s Legal Education and Development (LEAD) division.

 

Mr Barnard, who serves as a commissioner of the Small Claims Court, has been a member of the Small Claims Court Joint Venture Committee with the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development and Western Cape universities, and has assisted in drafting and updating the manuals for clerks and commissioners of the Small Claims Court. He is also a member of the Western Cape Advisory Committee to the Sheriffs’ Board and Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development regarding the appointment of sheriffs.

 

He has chaired and held executive and various positions in the governing bodies of a number of local and regional community organisations and trusts.

 

About Max Boqwana

 

Max Boqwana, who is also the President of the National Association of Democratic Lawyers, is serving his third term as LSSA Co-Chairperson. He served as Co-Chairperson in August 2008 until April 2009, taking over from Vincent Saldanha who was appointed as a judge in the Western Cape High Court; Cape Town, and was again Co-Chairperson of the LSSA in 2010.

 

Max Boqwana is a council member of the LSSA, a member of the LSSA’s Management Committee, a council member of the SADC Lawyers Association and an executive member of the International Association of Democratic Lawyers.

 

He has the BA LLB degrees from Rhodes University. He is a director at Boqwana Burns Inc, which has offices in Johannesburg and Port Elizabeth, and where he focuses on commercial and administrative law. He has served as an acting Judge in the Eastern Cape High Court.

 

Mr Boqwana was Chairperson of the Board of Control of the Attorneys Fidelity Fund from 2005 to 2007 and was a director of the Attorney Insurance Indemnity Fund.  He served as a council member of the Cape Law Society for several years.

 

Besides holding other commercial leadership positions, Mr Boqwana was a director of the Eastern Cape Cricket Board and a former director of the United Cricket Board of South Africa/Cricket South Africa.

 

Roodt Inc forms Synergy Link with K Tootla Attorneys

 

Roodt Inc of Johannesburg is participating in the Law Society of South Africa’s Synergy Link initiative, by linking with K Tootla Attorneys. By linking with K Tootla Attorneys, Roodt Inc will endeavour to assist the firm to master the following areas of practice through guidance and mentorship in –

• mergers and acquisitions;

• corporate and commercial law;

• competition law; and

• contract law.

 

Roodt Inc renders specialised legal services to its select group of local and international corporate clients in these practice areas. Khatija Tootla, who holds an LLM in competition and company law, has welcomed the opportunity to gain experience through the Synergy Link with Roodt Inc.

 

As one of its objectives to promote transformation and skills transfer in the attorneys’ profession, the LSSA has created Synergy Link, comprising a panel of law firms assigned to assist with the transfer of specialist skills on a wide range of specialised legal services. The LSSA’s Synergy Link enables law firms that possess specialised expertise to assist other law firms to master specified areas of legal practice.

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